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Classifieds

Issue date: August 11, 2000

Proyecto CHAC discontinued

By Jose Antonio Vargas

Having failed to secure enough funding to continue, Proyecto CHAC, a nonprofit organization serving Latino students at Graham Middle School, will close its doors in late August after five years in operation.

The program, supported by the Community Health Awareness Council (CHAC), provided after-school tutoring, academic counseling, parental services, and a substance abuse and violence prevention curriculum to approximately 130 students at Graham last school year.

Proyecto CHAC was funded for five years by a $1.8 million "demonstration grant" from the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

"It's sad, very sad," said Lorena Sanchez Castaneda, director of Proyecto CHAC. "We have found that the youth who have been with us over an extended period of time show the greatest change in their behavior, academic achievement, and increased involvement in school activities. This meant that our youth, with the support they received from their parents, teachers, and CHAC, were less likely to be vulnerable to engage in high-risk behaviors that may impact their future educational and economic opportunities."

Castaneda added, "Now that CHAC is ending, the community needs to be both responsive and receptive to the Latino community that is in great need of social, education, and support services."

CHAC's board of directors and administrative staff have been meeting with Castaneda since January, 2000, trying to find other ways to fund Proyecto CHAC this fall.

Parents collected at least 4,000 signatures from the community and sent two letters to the Mountain View School District to request continued funding. However, the district was unable to provide financial support from its discretionary funds due to the high operating costs of the program.

Carol Fisher, president of the Mountain View School District Board, said the district "very aggressively" sought and received two grants from Healthy Start, a program that helps at-risk students become successful academically. Healthy Start will be in place this fall at Graham and Castro schools providing bilingual (Spanish and English) coordinators at both sites.

"What the district has to do is look and support all students," Fisher said. "Even though Healthy Start won't be able to provide all the services that Proyecto CHAC offered, it focuses on all of those who are at-risk in our district."

According to Monique Kane, CHAC's interim executive director, four grants were requested to support this year's eight-week summer enrichment program, which served 75 students and concluded Aug. 10. However, only $1,000 was received. CHAC's board of directors voted to use $40,000 from reserves to fund the summer program.

Kane said that Proyecto CHAC won't be able to fund a full after-school program. Currently, Proyecto CHAC's fall program is in its planning stages as CHAC determines, with the help of the Latino students' parents, what components of the program should be continued, said Kane. After a plan has been set, CHAC will begin requesting grants to fund the pared-down program.

"Here is a perfect example of a program that has nurtured and cultivated a relationship with the Latino community, which has been considered hard to reach, and yet the response to its (the program's) disappearing has been minimal across the board," Castaneda said.

She continued, "This has been a community that does not want to look at how race and class issues impact the access to quality and equitable services to communities of color. But I have faith and hope that the community will take ownership of this program and take it to a different level."

For more information on helping Proyecto CHAC, please call (650) 965-2020.